The Academy Awards (the "Oscars") is a motion picture awards show that has become an increasingly left-wing display of political correctness by Hollywood, held annually in February in California. Traditionally it was a yearly award festival for movies, given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929.[1]

The Statue

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has, over the years, been controlled by many immoral characters and informal lobby groups, most notably homosexuals and communists and supporters of Al Gore who wish to contribute to the promotion and funding for "global warming" causes by giving him "critical acclaim."[2] Conservatives are regularly passed over, despite the superiority of their work/acting, and lifetime achievement awards are doled out to those who have been active in liberal politics.

History

The first awards were presented at a private dinner with an audience of less than 250.[3] Subsequently the show has been broadcast to the public, since 1953 by television (and previously by radio).[3] For the first decade the show's results were given to newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. at the night of the awards; this method was ruined when the Los Angeles Times announced the winners far too early, and the results were available to those arriving to the show, and, as a result, the Academy adopted the sealed envelope method, which it still uses today.[4] The show was broadcast internationally starting in 1969, and currently has viewers from more than 100 countries. Since 2002, the awards have been broadcast from the Kodak Theatre.[4]

Nominations

Today, according to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify. Rule 2 states that a film must be "feature-length", defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short subject awards and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or on 24 fps or 48 fps progressive scan digital film print with native resolution not less than 1280x720.

Awards night

The major awards are given out at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. Many hollywood elites attend, men dressed in tuxedos and the women dressed in expensive evening gown's. The Awards show was first televised on NBC in 1953, it is the only awards ceremony televised live across the United States excluding Alaska and Hawaii; the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Grammys are broadcast live in the East Coast, but they are on tape delay in the West Coast.

Criticism

The Academy Awards have often been criticized for being overly liberal.[5] Many celebrities make political statements in their acceptance speeches. Studios also lobby heavily for their films to be considered, leading to the complaint that nominations and awards may be largely a result of this lobbying rather than the quality of the material. In recent years, the Academy has selected liberal activists to host the awards such as Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart, who tend to target conservatives in their opening monologues, especially George W. Bush.

At the 2009 Oscars, the Academy nominated "Milk", a gay pride film, for the Best Picture Oscar. When Sean Penn accepted the Best Actor oscar for portraying the title character, he took the opportunity to criticize those who voted to ban gay marriage, and to praise Barack Obama. Presenter Whoopi Goldberg also took the opportunity to blast Nuns as she described nominee Amy Adams in the Supporting Actress category.

Awards

Academy Award of Merit

Current Awards

Awards are presented to individuals or collective efforts in up to 25 different categories, with up to five nominations per category;[3] perhaps the most famous categories being best actor and actress, best supporting actor and actress, and best picture.

Best Picture: 1928 to present

Best Director: 1928 to present

Best Actor: 1928 to present

Best Actress: 1928 to present

Best Supporting Actor: 1936 to present

Best Supporting Actress: 1936 to present

Best Original Screenplay: 1940 to present

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1928 to present

Best Animated Feature: 2001 to present

Best Art Direction: 1928 to present (also called Interior, Set Decoration, or production design)

Best Cinematography: 1928 to present

Best Costume Design: 1948 to present

Best Documentary Feature: 1943 to present

Best Documentary Short Subject: 1941 to present

Best Film Editing: 1935 to present

Best Foreign Language Film: 1947 to present

Best Makeup: 1981 to present

Best Original Song: 1934 to present

Best Original Score: 1934 to present

Best Original Musical: 2000 to present

Best Animated Short Film: 1931 to present

Best Live Action Short Film: 1931 to present

Best Sound Mixing: 1930 to present

Best Sound Editing: 1963 to present

Best Visual Effects: 1939 to present

Retired Awards

Best Assistant Director: 1933 to 1937

Best Dance Direction: 1935 to 1937

Best Engineering Effects: 1928 only

Best Score—Adaptation or Treatment: 1962 to 1969; 1973

Best Original Musical or Comedy Score: 1995 to 1999

Best Short Film—Color: 1936 and 1937

Best Short Film—Live Action—2 Reels: 1936 to 1956

Best Short Film—Novelty: 1932 to 1935

Best Original Story: 1928 to 1956

Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production: 1928 only

Best Writing, Title Writing: 1928 only

Newest Awards

The newest awards to be added to the list of available awards from the Academy are the awards for:

Best Animated Feature: added in 2001

Best Original Musical: added in 2000

Best Makeup: added in 1981

Proposed Awards

The Board of Governors meets each year and considers other new categories. To date, the following proposed awards have not been approved:

Best Casting: rejected in 1999

Best Stunt Coordination: rejected in 1999; rejected in 2005[22]

Best Title Design: rejected in 1999

Special Awards

These awards are voted on by special committees, rather than by the Academy membership as a whole, but the actor/actress voted to receive the special award can turn down the offer.

Current Awards

Academy Honorary Award: 1928 to present

Academy Special Achievement Award:

Academy Award, Scientific or Technical: 1931 to present (at three levels of awards)